At a celebrity-packed event in Beijing on June 1, the World Health Organization (WHO) China has launched a ‘smoke-free next generation’ media campaign featuring young Chinese celebrities to challenge the myth that you need to smoke to be cool.
“For too long, we have all been bombarded with messages that smoking is cool and linked to a glamorous lifestyle. While the tobacco industry is working hard to make smoking appear cool, the true facts paint a much different picture. Tobacco is the only commercial product which, when used exactly as intended, kills half its users. That’s 6 million deaths globally every year, 1 million in China alone,” said Dr Bernhard Schwartländer, WHO Representative in China.
The need to focus on youth is evident by looking at the statistics: More than half of all adult men in China are smokers, two-thirds of which started smoking as young adults.
“In movies, in fashion, in popular culture, cigarettes are portrayed as a fashion accessory and a way to appear alluring. Our children are most susceptible to this myth. Unfortunately, the more tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship that young people see and hear, the more likely they are to become tobacco users,” said Dr Schwartländer.
WHO has teamed up with four young celebrities to spread these messages in a unique way among China’s youth. They are: actor Wang Jia, actress Guan Xiaotong, Yiyang Qianxi of the music group TFBoys, and visual artist Chen Man. Chen Man has taken a series of artistic photographs of all four celebrities (including herself) to communicate the positive benefits a smoke-free environment has on individuals, communities, and society, and that choosing a healthy, smoke-free lifestyle is empowering. Posters and short video messages of the four celebrities have also been developed in collaboration with WHO China.
“WHO is honoured to have such a wonderful team of young celebrities on board to serve as role models to today’s youth and push for the creation of healthy, smoke-free future generations,” said Dr Schwartländer.
“There is absolutely nothing cool or fashionable about lung cancer, oral cancer, emphysema, yellow teeth, bad breath, or aged skin. In other words, there’s nothing cool about smoking. But there is something empowering about choosing to live a healthy, smoke-free life,” said Dr Schwartländer.
The photography exhibition was launched on the evening of June 1st in Beijing. The photographs and videos will be displayed at various locations, such as China World Mall, Beijing for a period of two weeks and also disseminated widely through social media channels and through LED screens in landmark buildings in Beijing and other cities.
China is in the grips of a national tobacco epidemic. With 315 million regular smokers, China is the world’s largest producer and consumer of tobacco, accounting for nearly half of the world’s cigarettes smoked.
“Tobacco threatens us all,” says WHO Director-General Dr Margaret Chan. “Tobacco exacerbates poverty, reduces economic productivity, contributes to poor household food choices, and pollutes indoor air.”
Dr Chan adds: “But by taking robust tobacco control measures, governments can safeguard their countries’ futures by protecting tobacco users and non-users from these deadly products, generating revenues to fund health and other social services, and saving their environments from the ravages tobacco causes.”
One of the most effective policies to help protect non-smokers from exposure to deadly second-hand smoke is to have effective 100% smoke-free laws, like those in Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen. This means that smoking is banned in all indoor public places, workplaces and public transport, without exception. Smokers simply have to smoke outside.